ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE AND ITS IMPACTS ON HUMAN SETTLEMENT IN THE CHANGJIANG RIVER DELTA IN NEOLITHIC AGE
- Received Date: 2004-02-17
- Publish Date: 2004-09-20
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Key words:
- Changjiang River Delta /
- Neolithic Age /
- human activities /
- climatic events
Abstract: Dating data, altitude of Neolithic sites, climatic changes from sedimentary records and previous research results were collected and analyzed to detect possible connections between climatic changes and human activities in the Changjiang River Delta in the Neolithic Age. The results indicated that hydrological changes greatly impacted the human activities in the study region. Low-lying geomorphology made the floods and sea level changes become the important factors affecting human activities, especially the altitude change of human settlements. People usually moved to higher places during the periods characterized by high sea level and frequent floods to escape the negative influences from water body expansion, which resulted in cultural hiatus in certain profiles. However, some higher-altitude settlements were not the results of climatic changes but the results of social factors, such as religious ceremony and social status. Therefore, further research will be necessary for the degree and types of impacts of climatic changes on human activities in the study area at that time.
Citation: | ZHANG Qiang, LIU Chun-ling, ZHU Cheng, JIANG Tong. ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE AND ITS IMPACTS ON HUMAN SETTLEMENT IN THE CHANGJIANG RIVER DELTA IN NEOLITHIC AGE[J]. Chinese Geographical Science, 2004, 14(3): 239-244. |